How to Recruit and Screen to Find the Best Candidates

Welcome back to week 3 of our “How to Attract & Retain Top Talent” series. Last week, we discussed what to look for when hiring your next employee. We talked about some top-notch qualities to look for when hiring. This week we will be discussing Recruitment and the Screening Process.

If you have a thriving practice, hiring someone becomes a tough decision, as you want only the best on your team. During the interview, you may have felt excited about a candidate, only to find out a short time later that he or she has not turned out as per your expectations.

Let’s go over some ideas on how you should screen potential candidates and avoid any future

Accurate job descriptions

Remember this all goes back to what we have been discussing the past few weeks: reverse engineer how you want to grow your practice and then determine what KPIs you need to look for with your new hires. Using this information and putting together a job description for this position will help you in more ways than one! Your job description should state what the ideal candidate needs to bring to the practice. A good job description provides a clear and concise summary of a position’s duties and responsibilities. It outlines the essential qualifications and requirements of a candidate. In addition, a properly written job description explains the core competencies required for the position. First, it will serve as your checklist when you are screening and interviewing. Secondly, when you hire your new employee, it will outline exactly what is expected of them and you start the relationship on the right foot. Third, it will help with future performance evaluations to see where they are excelling and in which areas they need coaching and further improvement. I am sure I can name about 10 other reasons about how important a job description is but we will save that for another day ☺

Change the focus of the interview

The natural tendency during the interview is to concentrate on technical questions. Don’t get me wrong; the need for technical skills should never be undermined. If you look back at all the encounters with your previous employees that didn’t work out, you are bound to agree that things did not work out with the employee, not ‘only’ because of technical skills. There is always more to it than that. You also need to take into consideration the individual’s personality and attitude. Remember that someone’s true personality and attitude come to the forefront after a point of time. If you are basing your screening process only on technical knowledge, then the entire focus of your interview is incorrect. To hire great employees, one should include both personal, behavioral AND technical questions in the screening process.

Asking the right questions

Depending on the level of candidate you’re interviewing, their responses can provide excellent insights into their level of acumen and philosophies. Make sure to look for compatibility, not just likeability. We tend to hire people who are similar to us but remember you already figured out your new hire avatar so stick to that.

Here are a few examples:
- Tell me about a time where you went above and beyond for a patient
- Tell me about the most difficult procedure you have performed? Why did you find this difficult and what did you learn while performing it?
- How would you handle a situation where you were faced with an irate patient who was angry over the length of their wait before they saw the doctor?

Good questions hey? See how their answers line up or reflect the KPIs you are looking for. Asking situational questions where the answers will show their personal, behavioral and technical abilities. Next week we will dive deeper into this subject and really analyze questions and the answers to listen for!

Until next week!

How to Be a Great Boss in a Dental Practice

Welcome back!

What are some of the things that help to build a successful dental practice? Expertise, patient satisfaction, and professionalism, just to name a few. But is there something more? That’s right… the head honcho! There is a fine line between being a good boss and a great boss.

Establishing good team dynamics

Just being a good boss is not enough. You should understand that managing and keeping the team happy are equally important. Before you sign a contract with someone, you should chalk out the hierarchy of the office. You need to establish your position and what is expected out of your team. This is not a power game, but you need to map out what is expected of your team. Most problems arise from expectation mismanagement. You cannot have respect unless you have earned it. So make your stand clear about the different rules and policies which you think will be effective to run the office.

Communication is important

Communication is a two-way thing. If you expect your employees to listen to you, you should, in turn, listen to them. Try holding a monthly meeting to talk about what is working and what could use improvement. Ask for your team to offer suggestions and give their input. You want your team to feel just that... that they are part of a team! Having regular or quarterly performance reviews will help provide an excellent forum that will encourage communication.

Closely follow the office manual

When you are a dentist, you cannot enforce or follow the daily operations unless you know the office manual by heart. If you adhere to the policies, you will be confident and consistent in your approach. If you find anyone within your team disregarding the policies, you should talk to them and ask them to make the necessary changes. This is something very important for the smooth running your business.

Creating the trust factor

If someone comes to you with an issue, it is absolutely mandatory to address it and try to resolve this issue. This helps to build trust. They should be able to trust you to come to you with their problems. If your team feels that you are helpless in a situation and cannot influence (or make) a decision, they will start doubting your leadership, which is not really the message you want to send.

Documentation can help

All dentists know the importance of documentation. You need to document everything from patient charts to personal issues. In case there is an issue, refer to the office manual, document the issue, review the entire incident and work with the individual to find out a solution. If the issue is related to performance, then sit with the person, set your expectations clearly, make that person sign the document, which notes that in case of any compliance failure, it could result in termination.

Even when you are a boss, you can be a good team player. Your team should look up to you as a leader and not always as a boss. Make the work environment a place where your team wants to come into work, where they know you will be there to support them and offer encouragement. Don’t just be a good boss, be a great boss! Your team with thank you for it!!

Until next time.

5 Questions to Ask Before Hiring Someone in a Dental Practice

Well hello there!

We know the process of hiring someone can be very stressful. You set up a job posting, you sort through all the resumes, you contact selected candidates for interviews and now comes preparing for the actual interviews. What questions should you ask? How do you know what questions are effective? How many questions should you ask? There is so much to think about.

When you have decided to hire someone for your practice, you need to find the best possible candidate. What are 5 questions you should ask, and what do their answers actually mean?

The purpose of this job

Centering a question around the purpose of the job is very important. It helps to understand and gauge the commitment of the candidate. It also helps to know about the perspective of the potential candidate. Does he or she really want the job because of their passion? Often the answers will differ. But you will definitely find someone who has an honest opinion about the job. An over-enthusiastic candidate may not always be the best person to hire. But look for someone who has a balanced view of the job.

Expectations from the job

Like all other jobs, in a dental practice, you need to have the potential to grow. The question that you can ask a candidate is where they see themselves in five years. A person who has the intention to grow will definitely help the organization to grow. So if you have a growing practice, try to find someone who shares the same passion. If there is a concrete answer from the candidate about their position in the clinic, you know that he or she has given some serious thoughts to this practice.

Talk about the skill sets

The next important question should be around the kind of skill sets the candidate has. Think about the job and think about the skill sets of the candidate. Do you think that this person is the right fit for the practice? Often when we hire a someone, we give the least emphasis on experience; but the emphasis is more on skill set and whether they have the intention to learn. Sometimes candidates show an enthusiasm to learn new things to adapt to the job environment. Think clearly as an interviewer: do you see that kind of potential in that person?

Finding out about their capacity to work in crisis

Crisis management is an integral part of a medical profession. As an interviewer, you should always give them an emergency situation and analyze how the candidate tries to cope with the situation. This is something that will help to understand about their capacity to handle stressful situations. And if you are hiring someone with experience, this is an obvious question. Often candidates get unnerved about such questions. See how they handle such questions and what their reaction to such queries are.

What about future goals?

When you hire someone, it is an investment. You do not want someone who will stay with you for a few months and you have to find someone new again. Ask them about their future goals. Do they seem really interested in the position? Do they have the intention to stay? If you detect a sense of an unsure attitude, you may have to think twice before taking them in your practice. Always think carefully before you hire someone.

Think of all the potential questions as an interviewer and analyze the potential candidate before you hire him or her!

In order to have a successful and profitable practice, you need to have the right team at your side. Your staff is the face of your business, and your office environment can make or break your success!Finding and hiring the right team members can be a challenging process without the right resources. It can be a complicated process, and potentially include negative legal repercussions if it isn’t done properly! Check out our NEW HIRE BUNDLE, it was designed to help you make sure you hire TOP TALENT everytime